This invention relates generally to door locking systems, and more particularly to standard equipment child-safety door locking systems for automobile doors.
There are presently systems which prevent the rear doors of automobiles from being unlocked and opened by children while the automobile is in motion. At present, all major car makers are incorporating as standard equipment a child-safety locking system of European origin that consists of adding a separate mechanical unit to the rear doors in addition to the regular locking unit. This child safety locking unit has a small lever that is positioned on the face of the door panel which requires that the door be opened to access the lever. The child safety locking unit requires manual setting for (1) normal locking and (2) child-safety locking. Normal locking permits the door to be locked, unlocked and opened by manipulation of the regular locking unit and door latch from inside the vehicle. However, when child safety locking is activated the door becomes totally inoperable from the inside whether the regular locking unit is locked or unlocked. The door may then be opened only from the outside, and then only when the regular locking unit is unlocked.
This means that when child safety locking is activated, the driver always has the inconvenience of having to exit the car in order to let the children in the rear out. There is this same aggravation when adults are in the rear and the driver forgets to position the lever to return the door to normal locking. Also, the driver has no visual reference as to whether the rear doors are in a child safety or normal locking mode. The driver must make sure the locking unit of the rear door is unlocked, and either: (1) strain to reach back and check the rear door handles; or (2) exit the car and open the rear door from the outside. Moreover in certain circumstances, such as in an accident where the car rolls upside down, the driver may not be able to unlock or to open the rear door from outside the automobile. The child safety power door locking system of the present invention completely eliminates the above problems and inconveniences as well as providing for other substantial advantages over the present system.
I patented Child-Guard.RTM. rear door lock actuator shields in the 1950's (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,955,858, 2,694,917, 2,708,845, 2,735,289 and 2,939,307). Power locks were not available at this time. My lock actuator shields were designed and made by my company, E-M-T Enterprises, for General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and American Motors cars, and were sold in volume from 1956 until 1987. Production ceased only in 1991 at which time all automobile manufacturers had incorporated the European child-safety locking system as standard equipment. My Child-Guard.RTM. lock actuator shields were confined accessory products, sold only to the major car companies.
Generally speaking, my prior actuator shields have an opening for receiving the manual look actuator in closely spaced relation with the shield. There is too little space between the shield and the lock actuator in the opening to grasp the lock actuator, or even to insert a thin instrument such as a key to pry the lock actuator back to an unlocked position. However, these shields have a slot (i.e., a second opening) in them which is too small for a child's fingers to reach the lock actuator, but which would permit insertion of the car key through the shield to unlock the door. Power door locking was not available on automobiles until the early 1970's. However, sales of my accessory lock shields continued to be strong until the late 1980's when nearly all automobiles began to incorporate the European child safety locking system described previously.
My original child safety manual lock actuator shields were an accessory product that where installed around the standard equipment manual lock actuator and used a car key for unlocking.